This chapter actually has nothing to with nicknames. Oh well.


I can't transform. My body won't respond to the command to return to my human form. Echoing in the background, I hear Medusa's laugh. Maka's hands tighten around me. My meister's giggle filters through our bond.

I look at her. There is something in her eyes that I've never seen before. A blackness. A madness.

"Oh, Soul, isn't it wonderful?" she whispers, her voice eerily breathless. "I've never felt so powerful… so much like myself." She smiles in a way that makes my mind go to Medusa. I search for her fruitlessly. A terrible realization dawns on me. That hadn't been Medusa laughing.

I feel myself being lifted into the air. I look at Maka questioningly, fearfully. "What—"

"Good-bye, Soul." I hear her laughing softly as she brings me crashing down against her knee. I feel myself break—

"Ahh!" Soul sat up, arms wrapped protectively around his midsection, breathing hard. Damn. That dream again. His door creaked open. Maka stuck her head in cautiously.

"Soul? Are you okay?" She sounded worried.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Soul looked away uncomfortably.

"Are you sure? You don't look fine. Make sure you're taking care of yourself properly, OK?"

"Yeah, okay."

"If you say so. See you in the morning, I guess. Good night, Soul." 'Good-bye, Soul.' She started to leave.

"Wait. Maka, can I talk to you about something?" Maka turned around. Soul was looking anywhere but her. He seemed nervous, and maybe a little embarrassed.

"Of course. What do you want to talk about?" She sat tentatively on the end of his bed. He stiffened when she did, drawing his arms closer around himself.

"I… it's just… never mind. It's nothing. Just a bad dream." Soul scooted farther away from her.

"Soul, it's not nothing. I can see your soul, remember? Your wavelength is fluctuating in a way that usually means you're trying to bring yourself to say something. It wasn't just a dream if it's making you act like this." Her voice was stern, but laced with compassion.

He looked at her with tired crimson eyes. "Maka…" He sighed. "You know I trust you, right? It's because I trust you that we can fight together the way we do. Every time I transform, I am literally putting myself into your hands. At first, trust had nothing to do with it. It was simply something I did. But as we fought together, I started to… care about you. I pointed out when you should dodge, or block, or attack. And you started using me for things that had never crossed my mind. For me to let you do this, I had to trust you. I realized that I did." He stopped, turning his gaze from the wall to Maka's face. "But Maka, if, for some reason, you wanted to kill me, it would be the easiest thing in the world. If I wasn't paying attention, you could break me before I had a chance to do anything to stop you. Do you understand now? Why having a dream that I was locked into my scythe form and you decided to smash me over your knee upset me so much?" Soul looked away again.

"I-I think I understand…" Maka looked at her hands, resting in her lap, then at Soul. She put her hands on his shoulders and turned him to face her. "Look at me, Soul. I would never do that to you and you know it."

"Yeah…" Soul smiled crookedly. Slowly, like he was worried she was going to hit him, he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. Maka did nothing for a moment, deciding if she should hug him back or deliver a Maka Chop. Settling on the former, she rested her head on his shoulder and smiled. She could feel him relax, relieved that she wasn't going to bash his head in.

" 'Night, Soul." He managed to not shiver at the feel of her lips brushing his neck.

" 'Night, Maka."

They sat there in the dark, reveling in each other's nearness, both wishing fervently that they could stay that way.